Kids Toys and Kids Crafts

I love to cook and my children really love to get involved when I’m working in the kitchen. Both my son (he’s three) and my daughter (she’s six) love to see what I’m baking up. Sometimes I make them pies or sometimes I make pot roast but all the time they are watching me in wonderment and amusement.

Now, when I realized how much they enjoyed watching me cook I couldn’t just ignore it and let it be. I wanted them to have the same love of cooking that I do and I wanted them to be able to safely pretend that they were cooking along with me! A real kitchen is a dangerous place for a young child but a wooden kitchen is a really great kitchen playset that they can use to pretend and no harm can come to them.

Wooden play kitchens are classic kid’s toys. They are kid sized and mother approved counters, stoves, microwaves, sinks, you name it! You can build a whole miniature kitchen set in your child’s room for them to play with and it will keep them entertained for days. When I was a child I remember having a wooden kitchen playset in my kindergarten class and even though it was mostly occupied by the girls of the class the boys would get in there and mess around with the plastic food products as well.

A child’s imagination has no bounds, I think as adults we forget that sometimes, but put a chefs hat on a child and point them in the direction of some toy kitchens and they will play all day. In fact, there is a children’s theme park devoted to just that called WannaDo City. Children dress up like chefs, firemen, police officers, and a whole mess of other professions and will spend all day in a city made of wooden toys.

If you’re looking to develop your child’s interest in the culinary arts but you aren’t ready for them to start playing with real kitchen tools a wooden kitchen is the perfect gift. Easy bake ovens can even be added to the kitchen set to give it a functional quality like no other. You’d be amazed at how much fun your kids will have. As a parent you want to provide the most enriching and safe atmosphere for your children to play in and the pretend wood kitchens are perfect for that.

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• You’re Not Really a Chef If You Don’t Wear a Chefs Hat (0)

One of my favorite characters from the Muppet show is the Swedish Chef. He’s a big nonsensical speaking puppet that likes to do crazy things in the kitchen and the one thing that defines him as a character and as a chef is his big floppy Chefs hat. Whether you’re an aspiring culinary wizard or just a little kid looking to have some fun playing dress up in the play kitchen, a chef hat is the most important piece of the chef’s uniform. It’s not about the chef jacket, or the chef pants. It’s not about the chef coats or the chef clothes; it’s all about the chef’s hat.

For Christmas last year I bought my daughter a wooden kitchen. She loves her wooden kitchen so much that she’s always in there once a day cooking up something random and imaginary. My wife keeps telling me that she can’t wait to get her daughter into the real kitchen because she loves to cook so much and I think that’s great. For Halloween this year I think we are going to surprise our daughter with a full blown Chef’s costume. Our plan is that after Halloween she will enjoy the costume even more in her wooden kitchen with her little chef’s hat playing make-believe.

Now, some of you might be saying: Hey! Chef’s hats aren’t that big a deal. They are just for show anyway and have no real purpose. Well, you are wrong my friend. Have you ever been to a Japanese Steak House or Hibachi restaurant? You know the funny looking restaurants where the cook’s give you a little show as they make your food at your table? Well, all of the Chefs there wear Chef Hats and make good use of them too. It must take a lot of practice to be able to flip shrimp tails and rice up into your Chefs hat.

If you really want to ham it up in the kitchen by wearing a chefs hat, or if you are serious about the culinary arts and need a chefs hat for your uniform, or if you have a little girl like I do and want her to look especially cute while playing in her kitchen playset you should shop online at the restaurant supply stores. You’ll be able to find full chef uniforms there for relatively low prices and you might also find a good deal on a set of pots and pans.

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• Forget Easy Bake Ovens; Get a Whole Wooden Kitchen Play Set! (0)